INVESTIGATIONS BLENDS RESOURCES OF THE PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS, THE
ORGANIZED CRIME DRUG ENFORCMENT TASK FORCE, AND THE PUERTO RICO-U.S.
VIRGIN ISLANDS HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA INVESTIGATION AND
RESULTS IN 45 ARRESTS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN SEIZURES

H.S. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico,
announced that on June 2, 2005, a Federal Grand Jury in the District
of Puerto Rico returned four (4) indictments charging 45 members of
a criminal organization, lead by defendant EDWIN C. COLON-DIAZ. The
organization leader, COLON-DIAZ, along with forty-four (44) additional
co-defendants, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent
to distribute fifty (50) grams or more of cocaine base; conspiracy
to possess with intent to distribute one hundred (100) grams or more
of heroin, five hundred (500) grams or more of cocaine, fifty (50)
grams or more of cocaine base and marihuana; possession with intent
to distribute (100) grams or more of heroin, five hundred (500) grams
or more of cocaine, and fifty (50) grams or more of cocaine base; possession
with intent to distribute fifty (50) grams or more of cocaine base
within one thousand (1,000) feet of a public housing project, or a
public elementary school, or a park; possession with intent to distribute
one hundred (100) grams or more of heroin within one thousand (1,000)
feet of a public housing project, or a public elementary school, or
a park; possession with intent to distribute five hundred (500) grams
or more of cocaine within one thousand (1,000) feet of a public housing
project, or a public elementary school, or a park; and possession with
intent to distribute marihuana within one thousand (1,000) feet of
a public housing project, a public elementary school, or a park. The
defendants have been charged with violations of Title 18, United States
Code, Sections 2, and Title 21, Sections 841, 846, and 860. Penalties
for the narcotics offense alleged in the indictment range from ten
(10) years to life imprisonment and fines up to four million dollars
($4,000,000.00).

The members of this
criminal organization, under the leadership of COLON-DIAZ, operated
four major
drug distribution points located within the perimeter
of the Vista Hermosa Public Housing Project in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
These drug distribution points were known with the code names of PUNTO
ROJO or PUNTO TAPA ROJA, PUNTO TIGRE or PUNTO TAPA AMARILLA, PUNTO NEGRO
or PUNTO TAPA NEGRA, and PUNTO BROWN or PUNTO TAPA BROWN. The members
of this organization were arrested at the following public housing projects:
Vista Hermosa, Villa España, San Fernando, and Santa Elena. All
of which are lkocated within the San Juan, Puerto Rico metropolitan area.
Financial investigative efforts against the COLON-DIAZ’ organization
revealed numerous assets linked to the criminal organization. Amongst
them, six (6) real state properties, consisting of five (5) houses and
one (1) apartment located in the areas of Isla Verde, Río Piedras,
Hato Rey, and Trujillo Alto. In addition, three (3) vehicles utilized
to facilitate drug transactions and three (2) bank accounts containing
approximately half a million dollars ($500,000.00) in drug proceeds were
identified.

The investigation was conducted under the PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS
(PSN) initiative and the ORGANIZED CRIME DRUG ENFORCMENT
TASK FORCE (OCDETF) and the HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA
(HIDTA) programs.
The OCDETF was composed of law enforcement agents of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s
Office of the Inspector General (HUD/OIG), the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), the Federal Bureau of Investigations
(FBI), the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP),
the Puerto Rico Justice Department’s Special Investigations Bureau
(NIE) and the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) assigned to the
Puerto Rico-U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA.

This PSN-HIDTA-OCDETF investigation, named OPERATION TIGER TAIL, targeted the criminal activities
of the
EDWIN C. COLON - DIAZ’ organization.
Agents assigned to the PSN-HIDTA-OCDETF carried out multiple narcotic
purchases in the aforementioned drug points. The drug transactions included
narcotics such as heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, and marihuana. The
defendants performed different roles within this drug trafficking organization,
such as: drug point owner, enforcers, dealers, runners, and lookouts.
PRPD and NIE also continue investigating several murders allegedly committed
by members of the organization in order to bring future criminal charges
for violations to the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The federal
case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Guillermo Gil and
Assistant US Attorney Maritza Gonzalez.

PROJECT
SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS is one of the top priorities of the White
House consisting of a nationwide commitment to reduce gun violence by
networking existing local programs that target gun crimes and providing
those programs with additional tools necessary to be successful. The
goal is to prosecute gun criminals aggressively in an effort to make
our streets and communities safer. For more information about the PROJECT
SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS initiative you may contact the PSN web site at www.psn.gov.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not
evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to
a fair trial and the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt.